Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/07/2018 -- Expected to surpass $2.5 Billion in annual spending by the end of 2018, private LTE and 5G networks are increasingly becoming the preferred approach to deliver wireless connectivity for critical communications, industrial IoT, enterprise & campus environments, and public venues. SNS Telecom & IT estimates that the market will further grow at a CAGR of approximately 30% between 2018 and 2021, eventually accounting for more than $5 Billion by the end of 2021.

With the standardization of capabilities such as MCPTT (Mission-Critical PTT) by the 3GPP, LTE is increasingly being viewed as an all-inclusive critical communications platform for the delivery of multiple mission-critical services ranging from PTT group communications to real-time video surveillance, and organizations across the critical communications industry – from public safety agencies to railway operators – are making sizeable investments in private LTE and 5G-ready networks.

By providing authority over wireless coverage and capacity, private LTE and 5G networks can ensure guaranteed connectivity, while supporting a wide range of applications and usage scenarios. Small-scale private LTE and 5G-ready networks are also beginning to be deployed in industrial IoT (Internet of Things) settings – where LTE and 5G can fulfill the stringent reliability, availability and low latency requirements for connectivity in industrial control and automation systems, besides supporting mobility for robotics and machines.

In addition, with the emergence of capabilities such as multi-operator small cells and shared/unlicensed spectrum access schemes, the use of private LTE and 5G networks – in enterprise buildings, campuses and public venues, for localized connectivity – is expected to grow significantly over the coming years.

How big is the private LTE & 5G network opportunity?
What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?
How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region?
What will the market size be in 2021 and at what rate will it grow?
Which vertical markets will see the highest percentage of growth?
How will unlicensed and shared spectrum schemes – such as CBRS in the United States – accelerate the adoption of private LTE & 5G networks for enterprises, public venues and neutral hosts?
How does standardization impact the adoption of LTE & 5G networks for critical communications and industrial IoT?
When will MCPTT and other 3GPP-compliant mission-critical capabilities become commercially mature for implementation?
What opportunities exist for commercial mobile operators in the private LTE & 5G network ecosystem?
Will private LTE & 5G networks replace GSM-R and other legacy technologies for railway communications?
What are the prospects of deployable LTE & 5G systems?
Who are the key market players and what are their strategies?
What strategies should LTE/5G infrastructure OEMs, system integrators and mobile operators adopt to remain competitive?

Key Findings

The report has the following key findings:

Expected to surpass $2.5 Billion in annual spending by the end of 2018, private LTE and 5G networks are increasingly becoming the preferred approach to deliver wireless connectivity for critical communications, industrial IoT, enterprise & campus environments, and public venues.
SNS Telecom & IT estimates that the market will further grow at a CAGR of approximately 30% between 2018 and 2021, eventually accounting for more than $5 Billion in annual spending by the end of 2021.
The critical communications and industrial IoT segment will continue to dominate the market in the coming years, primarily driven by the wide-area and ubiquitous coverage requirements of ongoing nationwide public safety LTE network rollouts such as FirstNet and South Korea's Safe-Net, and supported by considerable investments in the military, energy, utilities, mining and transportation sectors.
In the coming years, we also expect to see significant activity in the 3.5 GHz CBRS and 5 GHz unlicensed bands, to support private LTE and 5G network deployments across a range of environments, particularly enterprise buildings, public venues, factories and warehouses.
To avoid the high costs associated with large-scale dedicated LTE networks, governments in a number of countries – predominantly in Europe – are encouraging the adoption of secure MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) arrangements that pair private mobile core platforms with commercial LTE networks to deliver broadband capabilities for critical communications users.
Mobile operators are becoming ever more creative in their strategies to gain a foothold in the private LTE and 5G network ecosystem – ranging from operated-branded critical communications LTE platforms to the BYON (Build Your Own Network) business model where mobile operators provide access to their licensed spectrum so organizations can establish their own private LTE networks in their active footprint.
Vertical-domain specialists are leveraging partnerships with established wireless network infrastructure OEMs – such as Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and Samsung – to offer end-to-end private LTE and 5G-ready network solutions.